A Mixture Of Past And Present
by Shirou no Kitsune
Summary: "Where have you been?" Saruhiko stared hard at the small girl's back, unable to really believe that she was here in front of him. It had been so long since she'd been a part of their lives, and to see her here now sent his mind alight with questions. "What happened to you?" Sadly, K belongs to GoRa and not me. I'd have so much more fun if it did though.
1. You Have To Start Somewhere

Alright everyone, I'm finally back with something that's longer than a little poem or a drabble. :) I'm excited and a bit nervous at the same time, I haven't actually done a full story in quite some time and this will be my first published work in this fandom... So, as always; enjoy reading and if you feel like it, drop a line for me afterward if you feel that I did something wrong or if something could be improved on.

* * *

-High School, First year-

"Hey Saru, where's Misaki?" A young girl asked as she approached him, taking a seat beside him against the fencing that surrounded the rooftop of their middle school.

"Probably getting himself thrown into detention, again." Saruhiko drawled lazily, handing the girl one of the three bento's he'd snagged from the school cafeteria.

Her laughter rang in his ears as she accepted the lunch with a nod of thanks. "That sounds about right." She picked up her chopsticks and was about to dig in when she realized that Saruhiko wasn't even looking at his own lunch. "Are you really going to wait? He might not even make it up here before our next class begins." When Saruhiko merely shook his head again and continued staring lazily up at the cloudy sky above their heads, the girl heaved a small sigh and set her bento back down next to the others.

"You don't have to wait with me." Saruhiko yawned, laying down on the concrete and folding his hands behind his head.

"Then you eat too." Was the girl's stubborn reply.

"You know Sora, stubbornness like that is extremely unattractive." Saruhiko retorted with a grin, sitting up and moving out of range before she could hit him. "And so is a violent temper."

"Oh shut up." Sora glared at him but picked her bento back up regardless, digging into its contents so she wouldn't have to continue her conversation with the annoying monkey in front of her.

Sora was in the middle of stuffing another chunk of rice into her mouth when the access door to the roof slammed open, a pissed off looking Misaki stalking over to them. "Oi Saru, Sora-san." Misaki grumbled in greeting, sitting himself down between his two friends and taking the bento that Saruhiko offered him.

"How many days did you get this time?" Sora asked around a mouthful of rice and omelet, eyeing her hot-tempered friend curiously.

"A week." Misaki replied before starting on shoveling down his own lunch.

Now that everyone was there, Saruhiko picked up his own lunch and started to eat as well, after shoving all of the vegetables onto Misaki and Sora's dishes of course.

"Again Saru?" Misaki frowned but ate the offered vegetables anyway, no need to waste free food after all. "You're gonna stay scrawny like that forever you know?"

"And you're going to stay short forever." Saruhiko countered without missing a beat, picking up Misaki's untouched milk and downing half of its contents.

"I will not!" Misaki snapped back with an indignant huff.

"Alright you two, call a truce. I'm not taking anyone to the nurses office today…" Sora put her empty lunch container down and leaned back against the fencing and closed her eyes.

Misaki looked like he was about to turn and snap at her as well, but stopped short when he saw the amused grin tugging at the corners of her lips. "…che, fine dammit." The chestnut haired boy relented, gulping down the last of his lunch and setting the container on top of Sora's empty one.

Saruhiko was relieved to be able to finish the rest of his lunch in relative silence; Misaki had taken out his music player and pulled on his headphones and in his peripheral vision, he noticed Sora leaning back against the fencing with her face upturned toward the grey sky, quietly humming along with the song playing out of Misaki's headphones. He was about to stretch back out and welcome a small nap before class when his eye caught the discolouration along the underside of her jaw. Discretely, Saruhiko turned his head slightly so he could get a better look, his lips curling into a scowl as he counted the myriad of bruises that ran along her skin. The ages were different, varying shades of blacks, purples, yellows and greens that only stood out to him now that her head was tipped back, and Saruhiko's hand unconsciously clutched at the handle of one of his throwing knives that he'd stashed inside the sleeves of his uniform coat.

Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Sora lowered her head and turned to her friend, the questioning look on her face quickly melting into one of realization as she figured out just what her friend had been staring so intently at.

Before Saruhiko could ask, Sora simply shook her head, motioning down at their dozing friend.

_Don't say anything, he's gotten into enough trouble today._

Saruhiko understood the wordless message instantly, the hard set of his features being reply enough.

_You're going to tell me about it later then._

Sora put her hand over her mouth to partially quiet the small laugh that bubbled up from her throat, giving her friend a small, apologetic smile. "Don't worry about it." She assured him, speaking softly so Misaki didn't hear over his headphones. "Things will work out somehow."

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, and Sora went her separate way after school, claiming that she had some stuff back at her apartment to take care of. Misaki shrugged it off and waved at her as he walked away, dragging a slightly reluctant Saruhiko behind him.

The next day when the two boys arrived at school an hour and a half late, Sora was nowhere to be seen. Saruhiko had asked a couple of their classmates about it, but they all just said the same thing; Sora hadn't come to school that day. Saruhiko returned to Yata's side at lunch that day and told his friend what he'd found out.

"Yea, the guys in my class said the same thing." Misaki told him around a mouthful of food. "She probably just overslept and didn't feel like coming in, she's done that before."

Despite Misaki's assurances, Saruhiko couldn't let go of the nagging feeling in the back of his mind. He went along with things like normal though, but by the third day even Yata's seemingly-never ending optimism was beginning to fade. Saruhiko would now catch his friend staring out at the city from the rooftop at lunch as if searching the streets for her, and when he passed by his classroom Saruhiko would see him staring blankly out the window, obviously trying to think up a reason as to where she was.

The next day the two of them made a choice; they were going to see what the hell was going on with Sora. Instead of getting up and heading for school that day, the two boys headed toward her apartment. They arrived at the small, run-down building and went up to her door, Saruhiko reaching up and knocking on the splintering wood.

When no one answered, Misaki took it upon himself to bang on the door, nearly falling over himself as the door opened. The two of them entered the apartment slowly, taking in their almost completely destroyed surroundings. The few pieces of ratty furniture that Sora had were tipped over, some of them broken beyond all possible repair, and glass shards and other broken objects littered the floor around their feet. Saruhiko felt a hand suddenly gripping his arm and looked down, Misaki's hand was clenched tightly in the fabric of his uniform jacket, staring wide-eyed at the space around them with disbelief written all over his face.

"Sora…san…"

* * *

-Present day, Scepter4 Dormitories-

Saruhiko sat bolt upright on his bed, one trembling arm supporting himself while his other hand went to hold his head, tangling in sweat-dampened hair. Feeling the cold sweat running down his skin, Saruhiko stripped himself of his pajama shirt as quickly as he was capable of and wiped at his clammy skin, as if ridding himself of the sweat that clung to him could wipe his mind of the horrible memory. Throwing his blankets off and grabbing his glasses from the bedside table Saruhiko pulled himself up out of bed and went to turn on his bedroom light.

"…Only six…dammit…" Saruhiko heaved a frustrated sigh as he turned his attention away from the clock and to his disheveled bed. There'd be no more sleep for him today it seems. Saruhiko could never get himself back to sleep after re-living a memory of his past like that. The blue found himself idly wondering if his little Misaki was plagued with dreams like this, but he dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it came. Misaki barely paid HIM any attention anymore, why the hell would he give a damn about a girl he hasn't seen in years?

Saruhiko glanced out his bedroom window and frowned slightly when he noticed the grey, stormy skies stretching the expanse of the city. A gnawing ach settled deep in his stomach when the sight brought the image of her destroyed apartment back to the forefront of his consciousness again.

Today wasn't going to be a good day, Saruhiko knew it.

* * *

There you have it everyone, the introduction is done. Until next time~!


	2. An Unlikely Partnership

Okay, so here's chapter two finally.. I would have had this cleaned up and posted not too long ago, but when I was going back through the first chapter that I'd published and noticed a few errors that really caught my eye, along with a few other things that needed fixing throughout all of the other stuff I'd written up for the story.

The changes aren't life-altering though, so don't worry about having to go back through the first chapter. The only one of any real signifigance is the year that I'd put for the dream. It was supposed to be the boy's first year of HIGH school, not middle school. That was a fail on my part.

* * *

Chapter 2- An Unlikely Partnership

There were some days where Saruhiko **really** hated being right.

As soon as he'd arrived from the dormitories Munakata had given him an assignment and sent him on his way. Normally the blue would have complained about being sent out on a mission so early in the morning, but today he accepted the mission without trouble as soon as Munakata mentioned to him that there would be next to no paperwork that he'd have to do over this assignment. The normally disinterested teen even actually paid attention while he was being briefed on his assignment, something he was sure actually surprised his superiors quite a bit.

He left headquarters before they could add anything more to his mission, heading down the familiar path of streets toward bar HOMRA . The trip there was easy enough; the people who were out side-stepped him as much as possible, and most of the scum knowingly retreated back to their alleyways before he passed by. Saruhiko scowled when he thought back to the assignment details Munakata had given to him earlier; he'd end up being forced to work with one of those wanna be punks and gangsters. Saruhiko only hoped that he ran into his Misaki when he arrived at the bar, at least he could tolerate being around him.

Saruhiko climbed the stairs that led up to the front entrance of the bar and pulled the door open without a second thought, ignoring the few pointed looks that he got from the few members of HOMRA that were still inside the bar as he strode up to the counter.

"Ah? What does Scepter 4 want from us this morning?" Kusanagi asked nonchalantly, setting the glass he'd been polishing down on the counter top.

"Vice-Captain Awashima should have already told you what I'm here for." Saruhiko drawled lazily, leaning against the bar with a bored look on his face.

"We weren't told that it would be **your **traitorous ass that we were getting stuck with for the day." Misaki's voice called from over by the staircase, the chestnut-haired vanguard fixing Saruhiko with a heated glare.

Saruhiko let out a dry, humorless chuckle at Misaki's attempt at intimidating him. "Who **else** would they send to babysit a bunch of delinquents?" The corners of his lips curled into a manic grin as his Misaki's glare intensified, the vanguard moving away from the stares and going up to him. Unconsciously, the blue's hand moved to rest on the hilt of his saber.

"Watch what the hell you say about HOMRA, you bastard Monkey." Misaki spat venomously.

"Take it outside if you boys are going to fight. " Kusanagi warned both teens with a slightly sinister smile. Both boys backed off from each other slightly at the thought of bringing Kusanagi's anger down on them for wrecking his 'beloved' bar.

"Che. The bastard's not worth the trouble." Misaki growled out, snatching up his skateboard and storming out the back door of the bar.

Mild disappointment flashed across the blue's expression after being brushed off like that so easily, but Saruhiko quickly schooled his expression before anyone in the bar noticed and took off after Misaki.

* * *

"Che. I don't see why you blues need a tour guide for the slums." Misaki grumbled for what had to be the fifth time at least since the left the bar, skateboard tucked under his arm as he walked down the street with Saruhiko.

"Isn't it obvious Misaki~?" The vanguard flinches at the way the traitor sing-song's his name. "To find a thug, you need someone down on their level to search for them."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Exactly what I said, Mi-Sa-Ki." Saruhiko cast a manic grin at his ex-partner, silently delighting in the shiver that ran down Misaki's small frame. He'd never tire of the delightfully obvious reactions he could pull from the boy.

Misaki glared daggers up at his former friend. "You wanna fight Traitor?!" The vanguard readied the bat he'd kept under his arm with his skateboard.

"Like there'd be much of a fight." Saruhiko drawled lazily, walking off ahead of the smaller boy. "What can you do against a member of Scepter 4 without your aura, Misaki?" He knew it was cruel to bring up the boy's lack of power, but Saruhiko couldn't really bring himself to care.

Misaki quieted considerably at the mention of his aura and the crumbling clan that was left nursing their wounds in the wake of their kings death. In fact, the vanguard remained abnormally quiet throughout the rest of their journey to the decrepit heart of Shizume City. He knew that Saruhiko had a point, that the difference in Misaki's strength from the time he had his aura to now was too large to ignore, but that didn't help the red clansman feel any better about it.

Saruhiko was painfully aware of his former partner's silence as they continued down the road, maneuvering around potholes and cracks that started to appear along the sidewalk as they moved farther and father away from the crowded district where the bar resided. It was strange, to just have Misaki next to him like this. It was something Saruhiko hadn't experienced for some time, being so used to the others brash behavior and violent temperament towards him. And for a moment, Saruhiko let himself forget about HOMRA and Scepter 4, and about all of the other barriers they'd raised between themselves. The manic expression slowly slipped from his face without his knowledge, replaced with a slightly calmer expression he hadn't worn around the teen next to him since before HOMRA.

But Saruhiko schooled his expression once he noticed that they were no longer alone on the streets. They'd gone far enough into the district that people of all kinds were milling about on the streets ahead of them. From beggers to yakuza and everything in between existed in this area, and Saruhiko's right hand drifted from his side to the hilt of his saber in warning when a couple of overgrown men let their eyes linger on the two of them for longer than he liked.

Misaki ignored every look though, just pressing onward like he actually knew where he was taking them. He'd learned long ago that you weren't supposed to acknowledge bastards like these, no matter how hard they tried to get your attention, because the moment they had it was the moment you became unaware of the others circling you, boxing you in and denying you any escape.

Saruhiko's grip on the hilt of his sabre tightened the longer the two of them stayed on the main road. The sidewalk they'd foregone no longer felt like it was big enough to keep the owners of those prying eyes away from his Misaki.

The first clear alleyway is the first one he drags a sputtering Misaki into, ignoring the boys protests along the way. A few thugs on the street even whistled and cat-called them, one daring bastard even asking if he could have a turn once he was done. That bastard was particularly lucky he had a struggling Misaki to deal with right now.

"Dammit Monkey, i said LET GO!" Misaki roared angrilly, finally managing to make Saruhiko release his grip on the back of the vanguard's shirt collar. "What the hell's the matter with you?" He ground out just as angrily, but without the crashing volume he'd used moments ago. "Oi, are you-" Misaki stopped short when he turned and caught Saruhiko's attention completely averted from him, and realization crashes down on him.

They're not alone in the alleyway.

A lone, small figure sits on a wide window-ledge with their back against the damp alley wall, head lowered and turned so he couldn't make out the person's face. The small figure was fitted with cloths that were obviously more than a few sizes bigger than the person wearing them, reminiscent of Misaki's own style of dress, but with their cloths the way they were, Misaki couldn't tell right away as to whether or not the person in front of them was a boy or a girl.

The creepy long shadows that settled over the alleyway weren't helping him figure it out much either.

The vanguard stole a glance over at his ex-partner when the other made no move to speak, a frustrated scowl tugging at his lips when he noticed that Saruhiko's skin had paled considerably. Fine, he'd speak up himself then. "O-Oi," Misaki had to pause for a moment to force the stutter from his voice. "Who the hell are you?"

Silence.

Misaki was about to ask again when the figure finally raised their head and turned to look at him. The grey-blue eyes he saw standing out amongst the rest of the person's gaunt features struck a cord within Misaki, but he ignored the feeling for now. "Who wants to know?" The voice was definitely feminine, but it carried a haunting lilt at the end that made the hairs on the back of Misaki's neck stand on end. This feeling doesn't stop the embarrassed flush from spreading up his neck and to his face though, and the vanguard curses inwardly at his luck. Of course it had to be a girl, and in front of Saru too.

"Yatagarasu, HOMRA's vanguard." Surprisingly, Misaki managed to keep his voice from breaking. Regarding the girl with as much confidence as he could muster given the situation, Misaki continued. "Now who are you?"

The girl's lips curled into a slight smile. "I'm no one special little crow, don't mind me." Briefly, the girl's eyes drifted over to a silent Saruhiko, but she didn't seem to notice the lack of colour in his cheeks. "And what about you, Mr. Scepter 4 member?" She spoke lightly, an almost mocking edge to her voice as she regarded the boy next to Misaki. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself? Or am I supposed to guess?"

"...Fushimi Saruhiko." The blue answered, seeming to have finally found his voice again. Saruhiko quickly schooled his expression, pulling out the best disinterested look that he could manage.

"Ah, so I've been granted an audience with the vanguard's of both clans then... How strange." The girl lifted her small body off of the ledge and hopped down onto the ground in front of the two clansmen. "I'd heard that the two of you couldn't be together for a single moment without something getting torn apart, yet here you are..." Her head was cocked to the side in curiousity as she observed the two in front of her, but to Misaki it felt like he was being sized up by something far more analyzing than curiousity.

The vanguard felt his skin start to crawl.

"Are you trying to stall us or something?" Saruhiko snapped with an irritable click of his tongue, used to seeing stalling methods like this during his patrols and raids in the city. It was usually why complete strangers tried to delve into idle chit-chat with him most of the time, after all. _Not complete strangers.._A small voice at the back of his mind whispered to him as another clump of shaggy dark hair spilled over her shoulder.

"Not at all." The girl's small smile grew wider. "In fact little monkey, if you hang around a few minutes longer you might see something... interesting."

Both clansmen stole a look at the other, both obviously wary of just how much of a trap this could turn out to be. "And how do yo- Hey what the hell?!" Misaki was the first to look back at the girl, only to see her completely gone from the alley, as if she'd simply melted into the shadows around them that suddenly seemed to lighten considerably with her absence. "Damn it!" Misaki cursed loudly, dropping his board to the ground and preparing to take off. Saruhiko was faster though, grabbing the back of the red vanguard's shit collar and holding him in place at his side.

"What the hell Saru?!" Misaki growled at him, only to have the blue's hand clamped down over his mouth. "Mmff!"

"Quiet, idiot." Saruhiko muttered tersely, dragging Misaki off to the side of the alleyway and hiding them both in the shadowed alcove of a building's crumbling support pillar. "Listen."

Misaki was seriously contemplating gnashing his teeth together on Saruhiko's hand, but discarded the tought when the echo of shouts bounced of the alley walls and through the chestnut-haired boy's skull.

"She went this way, let's go!"

"Damn that brat!

Misaki glanced up at Saruhiko when he felt the taller boy's hand remove itself from his mouth, only to move down to the hilt of his sabre. In the midst of all the shouting and the frantic thundering of his own heartbeat, the crow's ears picked up on one more set of sounds.

The soft pounding of footsteps, much closer than the shouts and heading in their direction, accompanied by breathless panting; it had to be whoever the thugs were chasing.

Misaki moved slowly away from Saruhiko, keeping his footsteps as light and quiet as he could manage as he neared the only other turn in the alley, steel bat clenched in his hand and almost ready to swing.

But whoever it was had obviously been closer than either boy had imagined, because just as Misaki reached the corner, a small figure came practically barreling into his chest, knocking the air from his lungs and sending them both sprawling to the damp ground, tearing a sharp hiss of pain as Misaki's head collided painfully with the grimey cement. Slowly, he raised his pounding head, fixing the figure panting against his chest the fiercest look his hazy brain could summon. "What 'n the hell-?!" Pale grey-blue eyes stared down at him, sending a small spike of that familiar feeling through him again. But these eyes were darkened with anxiety and desperation, and the vanguard could do nothing more than clamp his own mouth shut and stare as recognition dawned on her features for a mere moment before it was gone again.

Saruhiko came rushing forward to help Misaki the moment the other boy had been tackled to the ground, but when those eyes turned on him instead Saruhiko's body froze and his breath caught painfully in his throat.

The words were out of his mouth before he could even think of stopping them.

"...Sora..?"

* * *

Second chapter finally done... I rewrote everything like three times before I even got anything to my liking enough to publish... And personally I still have reservations about the very beginning of the chapter.. If anyone's interested in looking things over with me and editing the chapters as they get close to being ready to post, message me and let me know.


	3. Emotions Welling Up

Okay, so here's chapter three of the story. Enjoy everyone, and thank you to all those who faved, followed, and reviewed! -gives virtual hugs and cookies to you all-

...It's late in my part of the world. Ignore the craziness.

* * *

Misaki hurriedly pushed himself up into a sitting position, backing away from the girl in front of him. His mind barely registered the name that'd come tumbling from Saruhiko's lips just moments earlier, but before he could say anything the girl was already on her feet again, tearing off down the alley toward the blue clansman.

Recovering from his shock, Saruhiko reached out and snatched the thin girl up off the ground and held her up by her waist before quickly backing her against the alley wall and moving so he obscured the majority of her small frame. She struggled against him at first, but when the shouting voices echoed around the alley again, she quickly stopped struggling upon realization of what he was doing. Just as her hands came up to grip at the front of Saruhiko's vest three men came sprinting around the sharp corner and into the small space.

Saruhiko mentally thanked whatever deity existed for giving Misaki enough brains to at least make himself scarce.

Shifting just enough so he could cast an irritated glare over his shoulder at the three men. "Do you mind?" He snapped at them, holding the girl's head to the crook of his neck and preventing them from seeing more than her dark hair.

"Yea, I bet you can." The burliest of them took a step toward Saruhiko. "You seen a skinny little bitch go through here? Got weird eyes?"

Saruhiko felt the girl's hands clutch tighter at his vest. "No. Now do you bastards mind?" The blue clansman snapped lowly. "We're busy here."

"Che, whatever asshole." He turned back to his two companions. "Come on, boss wants the little brat found." Without waiting for his compainions to reply, he broke out into a run and disappeared behind the alley corner, the other two darting hurriedly after him.

As soon as they were out of sight, the girl shoved Saruhiko away from her and turned to run off again only to have Misaki drop down in front of her from the half-obscured fire escape above their heads.

"Where are you going?" Misaki asked with a grin, thankful to be free of the embarrassing stutter for now. Taking a good look at the girl in front of him, Misaki could understand why Saruhiko had called her by their old friends name. His memory of Sora was blurred around the edges, but she definitely carried the same base appearance... The sudden realization left a bad taste in the vanguard's mouth. There was no way Sora was still alive, she'd have come and found them.. right?

"Away from here." She snapped back at him, breaking Misaki out of his small reverie. The girl spun around to run back into the network of alleyways, but Saruhiko was already there blocking her path and effectively blocking off any escape route she may have had. "Look creeps, I'm thankful for the help 'n all, but if you guys want anythin' more you're outta luck."

The similarities were beginning to pile up in Saruhiko's head to uncomfortable levels. _Even the dialect is the same, thick and obvious just like Kusanagi-san's.._ "Who are you?" Saruhiko had tried to ask the question calmly, but his voice sounded sketchy even to his own ears. He needed to know though, he needed her to tell him that she wasn't who he thought she was. _Anything.. Just say anything but that name_.

"E-Excuse me?" She was obviously taken aback by the question, if the way the corners of her lips curled down into a from was any clue.

"Who are you?" Saruhiko asked again, taking a step toward her. He could tell from the way Misaki's expression changed that his voice had cracked, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

He _needed _her to answer him.

She hesitated at first, glancing off to the side as her teeth found her bottom lip. "...I-Iyou Kanae." She finally replied when Saruhiko was about to voice his question a third time, voice quiet and a little bit unsure; as though she was trying out the syllables for the first time.

Saruhiko wasn't particularly convinced, but when he noticed the quiet, relieved sigh that slipped past Misaki's lips the blue found himself relenting and taking a step back. If Misaki was fine with it he would be too, for now at least. Her tense shoulders relaxed somewhat, but the eyes that met his remained guarded and distant. "Ah, is that so? Then tell me Kanae-san," he rolled the syllables of her name in the same mocking manner as he did Misaki's, "Why were they after you?"

Grey-blue eyes narrowed up at him. "I..." Kanae shuffled a step or two back, almost close enough to Misaki now that her back nearly touched the vanguard's chest. And being the single-celled idiot he always was, he must have believed her claim and that was why his cheeks were now flushing a deep crimson." 'm not sure. Guys like that, they got lots 'a reasons to chase girls around." She inched back a bit more. "Can I go now?" Saruhiko almost said no when he saw the blush on Misaki's cheeks darken, but when he apparently got over his embarrassment just enough to shoot a pointed look over at Saruhiko the blue clicked his tongue in annoyance but nodded anyway. "Go."

Kanae, not willing to wait just in case the boys decided to change their minds, took off again, turning back into the network of alleyways and ducking out of sight.

Barely a moment after she disappeared, Misaki slumped back against the akkey wall with a sigh. "She looked a lot like her, didn't she..?" The tone of his voice, for once filled with something akin to longing instead of its usual hatred when regarding the traitor drew Saruhiko's attention back to him immediately. "...I almost thought..."

"Single-celled idiot." Saruhiko muttered along with a click of his tongue, turning away from Misaki and heading back toward the mouth of the alley. _Tch, of course Misaki remembers her..._ A small voice in the back of Saruhiko's mind said bitterly. _He remembers everyone else but me..._ His fits clenched tight enough for his nails to bite into his palms, hidden inside the pockets of his uniform jacket but Saruhiko forces down the bitter jealousy gnawing at the pit of his stomach when Misaki falls into step with him, various curses spewing from his lips that Saruhiko admittedly doesn't bother listening to.

Neither of the boys noticed the shaggy head of dark hair peeking around the corner of the alley, grey-blue eyes shadowed with guilt as she watches the two of them walk away without looking back.

* * *

The rest of their search for the day was uneventful for the most part, but at least now Saruhiko had a somewhat decent mental map of the winding streets. At fir st, Saruhiko hadn't planned on staying at the bar for the duration of his assignment, but apparently Vice-Captain Awashima had other plans for him. With the reasoning that allowing Saruhiko to stay in the comfort of his own apartment would end up with him slacking far too much for the Vice-Captain's liking on the task at hand, Awashima had pulled a few strings and taken off for the day to visit Kusanagi-san at his bar and leave him with some instructions and a few items for Saruhiko's extended visit.

Which is why the blue was now perched unhappily on one of Kusanagi-san's bar stools, trying to drown out the noise from the other HOMRA members. Saruhiko's tongue clicked sharply in annoyance, that damn woman wasn't getting anymore paperwork out of him for at least a month after pulling this. And what made his mood all the worse was that Misaki, who had stayed instep with him, and even talked to him without their conversation dissolving into flying fists and angry shouts, had left his side nearly upon entry into the bar. Left with nothing better to do, Saruhiko decided to take up his old spot at the end of the bar counter. Nobody commented on the blue's return and subsequent housing thanks to a few pointed looks from Kusanagi-san, who then came over to him and set a tray of rice, miso, and grilled fish down in front of him before walking off to clean his wine glasses some more.

Saruhiko eyed the food warily for a few minutes, but soon enough his rumbling stomach made up his mind for him and after mumbling a small "thanks for the meal," he dug into his dinner. It may not have been something as well-made as something from headquarters, but Saruhiko found himself enjoying the small meal all the same. The sound of Misaki's voice filtering over the din of the bar was more than enough to make his night just that little bit more bearable.

"Oi Saru, when are we going out to search tomorrow?" Misaki's voice called over to him, harsh and impatient as always.

He almost missed the vanguard's question at first, but an even more impatient shout of his name had his reply coming out before he'd even had much of a chance to think about it. "Whenever you manage to drag your ass out of bed, Mi-sa-ki~"

Misaki's right eye twitched at the annoying drawl. "Che. Just watch, I'll be the one dragging your lazy ass outta bed, just like always!" He snapped back almost immediately, unintentionally speaking as if they hadn't been apart for so long. Colour rose to Misaki's cheeks when he realized just what he'd said, but surprisingly enough, Saruhiko didn't have the heart to tease the boy right now.

If anyone ever asked him why he didn't tease the red earlier, he'd simply shrug it off and say he hadn't felt like it, but in reality Saruhiko foudn the taunts dying in the back of his throat, burried under all of the memories and emotions that were steadily welling up inside of him. It felt nice, to be talked to like he was before he and Misaki joined HOMRA. Saruhiko had even noticed that the infuriating _traitor_ addition had been left out when Misaki called for him just now. He knew he should put a stop to it now, so that way things wouldn't become steady and dull and Saruhiko would fade into the back of Misaki's thoughts again, but when Misaki actually took a seat near him at the bar, Saruhiko couldn't bring himself to care much at the moment.

He crashed on the bar's couch that night, stretched out under a blanket he assumed Kusanagi-san had draped over him before the bar-tender finally wandered off to bed himself. In the morning Saruhiko wouldn't remember that it was the small vanguard that his tired eyes saw pulling the blanket up to rest around his shoulders long after Kusanagi wandered off to bed.


End file.
